Jose Napoles Part Three: Upset

Jose Napoles

After successfully defending his undisputed welterweight title against Emile Griffith at Inglewood’s Forum, Jose Napoles entered the very same place to make the third defence of his crown against Ernie Lopez on 14th February 1970. The challenger, hailing from Los Angeles, California, was part Ute Indian - hence his alias Indian Red - and started his professional career in June 1963. By the time he faced Napoles, Lopez had compiled a record of 39-5-1 (19 KOs) and was yet to be stopped.

 

Both boxers weighed 146 pounds (66.23 Kg) and the 17,091 in attendance, who made gate receipts of $228,417, witnessed Napoles open up on Lopez from the start, putting the durable challenger down for a count of two in the opening round.

 

The Cuban used his jab to dominate the fight, causing a nick under the American’s right eye and bloodied his nose, which hampered him the entire night. Lopez was put down for a count of four in round nine. The challenger was on the canvas for a third time in the final round, although he was up at a count of five, he had little left and tried in vain to land a telling punch. With no life left in his arms, referee Larry Rozadilla ended matters at the two minutes and 38 seconds mark of round fifteen. Napoles, who received $100,000 for his night’s work was well ahead on the judges’ cards as he improved to 63-4 (42 KOs).

 

Napoles bolstered his record with non-title fights in October and December respectively with a third-round kayo over Fighting Mack of Curaço and stopping Pete Toro with a ninth-round technical knockout. On 3rd December 1970, he put his welterweight belts on the line against the unheralded American Billy Backus at the War Memorial Auditorium, Syracuse, New York, close to the southpaw’s hometown of Canastota.

 

Backus, who had his uncle - the former two-time welterweight and ex-middleweight world champion - Carmen Basilio as his co-trainer, started his professional career in September 1961, stopping Ike Anthony in the second round.

 

The challenger, weighing 146 pounds (66.23 Kg), had a record of 29-10-4 (15 KOs) and picked up the New York State welterweight title in early 1970 with an eighth-round TKO against Ricky Ortiz, cramming a further four more fights before his world title challenge to Napoles.

 

The champion, 144 pounds (65.32 Kg), was the superior boxer in the opening two rounds, repeatedly beating his man to the punch. However, this changed in the third when both fighters elected to swap leather and gave the 4,452 crowd in attendance one of the most exciting three minutes at the War Memorial.

 

The toe-to-toe exchanges left both men needing their cornermen to work on cuts to both their eyes. Things got worse for Napoles in the fourth when he ran full force into Backus’s head, splitting his left eyelid in the process. Referee Jack Milicich, on the approval of ring physician Dr. John Sinoatti, halted proceedings after 55 seconds of the round, handing Backus a shock victory, with wild celebrations from the New York crowd.

 

“It was the worst cut I’ve ever seen,” said the third man in the ring. “I could see his (Napoles) eyeball.”

 

“He is the toughest, smartest fighter I have ever faced and that is why he was champion,” Backus stated.

 

“Napoles was hitting him often with that left hand in the first two rounds and I told Billy to stay away from it and come in from a different angle,” said Carmen Basilio. “And when he did it, he got in those good shots that won it. He cut him with those double hooks.”

 

“He is a strong fighter and used his head well,” said Napoles, claiming that the cuts caused were from headbutts rather than clean punches. 

 

The former champion returned to Arena Mexico in Mexico City on 27th March 1971 to face Texan Manuel Gonzalez, needing a victory to have any chance of a rematch with Backus. Napoles did just that in the sixth round, kayoing the American at the one-minute and 40-second mark, to get a June date with the defending champion.

 

Billy Backus wasted no time since defeating Napoles for the title and secured a non-title victory over Bobby Williams a month later. In March, twelve days before Napoles’s victory against Gonzalez, Backus travelled to Paris and outscored Frenchman Robert Gallois over ten rounds.

 

The Backus-Napoles rematch took place at the Forum, Inglewood, California on 4th June 1971 in front of 16,000 people. The challenger hired legendary trainer Angelo Dundee to work his corner because he could do quick cut work between rounds. 

 

Despite holding a victory over Napoles, the champion was installed as a two-to-one underdog. Things looked ominous for Napoles early in the contest when his right eye was split open. Angelo Dundee did what he was hired to do between the rounds and the cut was never an issue. 

 

Napoles landed his jab and right hand at will on the southpaw, inflicting a serious swelling to the champion’s right eye and cutting his left eyelid. The end came in the eighth round when the Cuban stunned Backus with a hard left cross before dropping him with a short right-hander. The American gamely got up and rallied, only to hit the canvas again after taking a series of punches at close quarters.

 

With his face battered, referee Dick Young called on the advice of the ring physician, who declared the action should cease at one minute and 53 seconds. It was the first time the southpaw had been stopped. “When I’d catch him with a solid blow he would roll with the punch,” Backus explained. “I caught him a couple of times but when your car doesn’t run that’s it.”

 

“He was too tight and tried too hard,” added Carmen Basilio.

 

“Jose won with his left hand,” said Angelo Dundee. “That’s the way to handle a southpaw. If you try to right-hand a guy like Backus, you get clipped.”

 

 “I think I solved his style about the third round,” said the new champion, who improved to 67-5 (46 KOs). 

However, on 1st November 1970, before his first encounter with Backus, the New York State Athletic Commission (NYSAC) suspended both Napoles and his manager Cuco Conde, as they failed to fulfil a contract with the Canastota Boxing Club in Syracuse, New York, that stated Napoles had to face a fighter of their choosing within 120 days of his rematch with Backus. They also withdrew their recognition of him as a title holder, although he remained WBA and WBC champion.

All the best fight fans

Lea

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